Things Only Get Worse From Here
by Long-Vuong
Summary: John had thought that his day had been bad even before he had found the strange egg. First his friend was acting wierd, then he missed the bus and was nearly trampled by protesters. Will John survive the onslaught he is about to go through? AU, no pairings, eventual character death.
1. Smoke Pellets and Protesters

Chapter One: Smoke Pellets and Protesters

* * *

John Egbert practically leaped out of his desk as the school bell rang. It was the last class of school, and tomorrow was the first day of spring break. He'd been waiting for this all day; who hadn't been?

Across from him, his friend Rose got up much more calmly, but John knew that she was just as excited about spring break as he was…or at least, that's what he assumed. He didn't really know much about how Rose thought about vacations.

Rose brushed back a strand of her short blonde hair back, calmly picked up her books and exited the classroom.

On the other side of the formerly-crowded-but-now-quickly-clearing-out classroom was his friend Jade. She was definitely just as excited as he was.

Jade adjusted her rounded glasses and smiled brightly. She also hefted her books and absconded from the deathly boredom trap the classroom was.

Finally, his friend Dave was sitting just in front of him. John didn't really know what Dave thought about anything, much less spring break. Besides, for some reason or another, Dave had arrived to school covered in a ton of bruises and scratches, and had been acting weird all day. When John had asked, Dave had said that he'd had a 'duel with Bro', but John definitely positively most certainly wasn't sure that his explanation was the entire truth.

Dave silently got up and walked out of the classroom. John, hoping to get a few answers, followed him.

The hallway was nearly empty, as most of the kids had already gotten the heck out of there. After putting his stuff in his locker, John went to talk to Dave.

Up close, Dave looked a lot worse. A whole lot worse. In fact, it looked like he might have been fighting evil green aliens for weeks on end, or something like it.

"Hey Dave!" said John, deciding that he was going to subtly get those answers from his friend. "How did you get so beat up? Were you fighting someone other than your brother? I've seen you after your fights, and he doesn't beat you up that badly."

Suddenly, Rose and Jade appeared; they hadn't left the building after all. "Yes, I was wondering why you look that way as well," stated Rose.

"Me too!" added Jade.

Dave looked somewhere between uncomfortable and irritated. "I was fighting an evil green space alien intent on destroy the world," he said with a straight face.

John and Jade gave him a weird look, but the both of them knew it was perfectly normal for him to use really weird metaphors for situations—it was either that or he was 'ironically messing' with them, whatever that meant.

Instead of standing puzzled like John and Jade, Rose immediately took out a worn-looking journal and began to write in it. "Subject: Dave Strider. Condition: Refers to 'evil green space alien intent on destroying the world' as excuse for what seems to have been a scuffle between him and someone else," Rose mumbled to herself while scribbling down her notes. Taking Dave by the shoulder, she pulled him away from the little group. "Walk with me for a bit," she said.

As the two walked away, John and Jade could hear a bunch of "And how does that make you feel?" And "Mm—hmm" s from Rose and much mumbling from Dave.

Yep. Totally normal and not in any way, shape or form strange or abnormal at all.

A few teachers eyed the loitering students, wondering why they'd stayed so long. Noticing the glares, Jade said, "I'd better be going. I've probably been keeping Bec waiting way too long. See you over the break, John!" She waved and headed for the door.

"Bye, Jade!" John realized that he needed to go too—he was most likely going to miss the bus. Upon realizing this, he raced to the bus stop, only to realize that he was indeed too late. The last yellow school bus sped away, leaving a cloud of fluttering debris and noxious fumes in its wake.

John sighed. It looked like he was going to have to walk home today.

* * *

It was a very nice, sunny, and warm day outside. Despite this, John rather dreaded the prospect of having to walk home—it was a long way from the school to his house. His dad usually worked until six, so he had no hope of asking to get picked up.

As of now, John had managed to get about halfway home; it had taken him half an hour, which was a record time. He was about to pass a busy street when he was mobbed by a bunch of people who appeared to be protesting something.

"Hey you! Did you know that the incoming meteor shower will destroy the world?! You and your family must prepare for the end, you hear me?!" shouted one of the protesters.

Another protestor that was holding a large handmade sign was shouting something along the lines of "Prepare for the end!" to the crowd pulled John into the crowd. "We must inform the people—the old, the young, the children—people like this boy!"

The crowd roared in approval. John awkwardly tried to escape the mob, but a bunch of hands pulled him back in.

The rally seemed to be getting louder and louder. Rather scared, John decided to make a getaway using his last resort—smoke pellets.

However, when he dropped the pellets on the ground, they failed to work. At least, not until an unsuspecting rally member stepped on them.

POOF! A huge cloud of smoke went up, causing protesters to scream and flee in various directions, crying, "It has begun!" As the rally started descending into complete chaos, John took this opportune time to abscond the heck out of there, sprinting across the street and ignoring angry drivers honking at him.

* * *

**This is my first-ever Homestuck fanfiction. I have no idea why the heck I'm writing this...**

**Anyways, if you're wondering about the smoke pellets, remember that in Act 1 of Homestuck, John had smoke pellets with him.**

**My advice to readers of this fanfic: Pay attention to the seemingly random events. (coughFORSHADOWINGcough)**

**- Long-Vuong**


	2. Meteorites and Profanity Filters

Chapter Two: Meteorites and Profanity Filters

* * *

As soon as he had put a good distance between him and the rally, John slowed and noticed that he was nearly home, which meant that he had been running for quite some time.

John was only a block away from his house when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw something hurtling at a tremendous speed across the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. This was not highly unusual; planes regularly flew across the skies over his neighborhood. That is, it wasn't unusual until John realized that the object most definitely was not a plane and was heading _straight towards his house_.

In horror, John watched helplessly as the object plummeted down and crashed into his yard, sending up a plume of dirt and grass as it crash-landed.

He rushed towards his house. Whatever the object was had done some serious damage, as the entire front lawn was trashed and the tree that had stood for so long besides the driveway was totaled.

As the dust settled, John saw that the object was what seemed to be a meteorite, which only served to remind him of his encounter with the protesters earlier. However, this meteorite was very strange-looking because instead of being a dull brown or gray, it was a brilliant rusty-red with patches of deep green here and there.

The meteorite was about the size of a basketball; for whatever reason or another, the colorful patches on it were moving and pulsing violently. This was definitely not a normal meteorite.

Curious, John took a few steps forward to take a closer look. As soon as he got near it, the meteorite shuddered violently, causing a crack to appear on its surface. The closer he got, the more violently it shuddered and the larger the crack on the surface became.

Suddenly, when John was a mere few feet from the space rock, it split in half to reveal a shiny red and green egg about the size of a golf ball. Its shell had the same coloration as the surface of the meteorite, except much brighter. As he watched, the swirls of the egg's shell, which had been about half green and half red, rapidly started to get engulfed by the red side until no green was remaining. The result was a solid red eggshell.

This was all very strange and weird for John. However, either his curiosity or something more mysterious compelled him to pick up the egg—and that's what he did. The alien egg was burning hot, and it felt like something inside was moving.

Against his better nature, John carefully took the egg inside after wrapping it in his jacket so he wouldn't burn himself. Looking around his house to make sure his dad wasn't home, John made his way into the kitchen and put the egg into one of the many cake pans that lay about. Then, he took a rag, wet it in the sink so it wouldn't ignite, and placed it on top on the pan, making sure that the egg was completely covered.

John reasoned that since the egg was scorching hot, it needed lots of warmth, so he had placed it in a pan to keep his dad from finding it—he hoped his dad would assume it was a science project or something—and had stuck it into the oven, wishing that he knew a bit more about alien egg incubation.

Closing the oven door, John heard an obnoxious pinging from upstairs. Taking a last look at the egg, John hurried to his room, where the instant messaging icon on his computer was flashing—someone was trying to talk to him. John took a second to check the time (it was about three in the afternoon now) and opened the chat box.

Chat log opened 3:14 PM

—Automatic profanity filter is in effect for this chat—

—**Dave S.** has opened this chat—

**Dave S.:** hey

**Dave S.:** john

**Dave S.: **we need to talk

**Dave S.: **this is urgent

**Dave S.: **are you there egbert

—**John E.** has joined this chat—

**John E.: **hi dave!

**John E.:** sorry i just got home from school, I missed the bus.

**John E.: **actually, i just found something weird outside.

**John E.: **this meteorite crashed in my front yard and there was an egg in it.

**John E.: **i didn't know what to do with it so i stuck it in the oven.

**Dave S.: **wait what did you do

**Dave S.: **sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t

**Dave S.: **d*mm*t its happening again

**John E.: **what's happening again?

**Dave S.: **f*ck*ng loops and aliens

**Dave S.: **listen to me john

**Dave S.: **go to your oven and take the f*ck*ng egg out

**Dave S.: **take it out and kill it

**Dave S.: **doesn't matter how, just do it

**John E.: **wait why? for all we know this could be some great scientific discovery!

**Dave S.: **no john

**Dave S.: **it's not scientific or a discovery in any way at all

**Dave S.: **its dangerous

**John E.: **no.

**John E.:** i'm not going to kill it.

**John E.: **maybe your fight with your brother messed your head up or something, you've been acting weird all day.

**John E.: **i'm just going to do what i think is right.

**Dave S.: **you know what

**Dave S.: **fine

**Dave S.: **you didn't listen the first time around

**Dave S.: **i hope this works

—**Dave S**. has left this chat. The chat will be ended—

John stared at the computer, confused. First Dave was acting weird at school, and then he was just saying some pretty weird things right now. John wasn't a genius, but he suspected something larger was at play here.

Anyways, John wondered if any of his other friends were online. He decided that it would be okay to tell them about the alien egg too, and he hoped that he could get advice about alien egg incubation or something like that from them. If anything, he wanted to ask them if they knew why Dave was being so odd and on edge today.

Chat log opened 3:33 PM

—Automatic profanity filter is in effect for this chat—

—**John E.** has opened this chat—

**John E.: **hello?

**John E.: **anybody there?

**Rose L.: **Yes, I'm here.

**John E.: **oh hi rose.

**Rose L.: **Hello, John.

**John E.: **i was walking home today, and guess what!

**Rose L.:** What? Please, tell me.

**John E.:** a meteorite crashed into my front lawn, and there was a green and red alien egg inside!

**Rose L.: **Actually, John, I already knew about that. Dave contacted me a few minutes earlier and told me.

**John E.:** what? really?

**Rose L.: **Yes. He told me that you were going to contact me around this time and that you were going to inquire about how to incubate the reproductive cell of a life-form from outer space.

**John E.: **waitwhat?

**John E.: **how did he know that I was going to ask that?

**John E.: **wait, that reminds me about something.

**John E.: **rose, do you know why dave's been acting so weird today? he talked to me earlier and was acting really jumpy and on edge.

**Rose L.: **Actually, Dave mentioned that you would also bring that up as well.

**John E.: **wow, that's pretty creepy.

**Rose L.:** To answer your question about Dave, the most I can say is that he recently experienced some sort of serious mental trauma very recently.

**Rose L.: **Whatever it was most likely involved something that he may interpret to be 'evil green aliens', although it is possible that it may be a literal explanation.

**Rose L.: **If that is the case, then perhaps he either experienced some sort of wild dream or hallucination involving malicious viridian-colored beings from outer space. However, he may have simply been on the receiving end of one of his brother's plush puppets—most likely a green one.

**Rose L.: **As for your alien egg, I believe that if the egg, if it has survived the vacuum of space and the heat of entry into Earth's atmosphere, must be one from a highly resilient species of outer-space creature.

**Rose L.: **Although I do not know much about aliens, I can tell you that it most likely will be able to survive a range of temperatures, meaning that you do not have to stick it in the oven, and will be impervious to most forms of physical assault, considering that it hurtled and crashed to Earth's surface without being broken.

**Rose L.: **Does that answer your questions?

**John E.: **yes, thanks for clearing that up.

—**Jade H.** has joined this chat—

**Jade H.: **hi john! hi rose! :)

**Rose L.: **Hello, Jade.

**John E.: **hi jade!

**Jade H.: **so, has anything interesting been going on lately?

**Rose L.: **Yes. In fact, some very interesting things have been going on lately. John, would you care to explain?

**John E.: **sure, i'd love to!

**John E.: **okay, so i was walking home today and I found something really cool!

**John E.: **it was…

**John E.: ***drumrolls*

**Jade H.: **come on, hurry up and tell me!

**John E.: **…a meteorite! not only was it a meteorite, but it had this weird alien egg inside of it!

**Jade H.: **wow! That is so cool!XD

**John E.: **i know right! i ended up putting the egg in the oven because it probably needs warmth.

**John E.: **maybe it'll hatch and we'll have a real live alien!

**Jade H.: **I bet it will! in fact, I'm almost sure it will!

**Rose L.: **It would be quite interesting to observe an alien hatch. Such a phenomenon would be an once-in-a-lifetime experience.

* * *

Suddenly, John heard a strange noise from downstairs. Though quiet, it definitely sounded like metal bending under the stress of something heavy. He quickly typed a few lines into the chat box, and then went downstairs to investigate.

* * *

**John E.:** something just made a weird noise downstairs. i wonder if it's the alien egg?

**John E.:** whatever it was, i'm going to go investigate it.

—**John E****.** is idling—

* * *

**I**** bet you guys will be asking, "Why aren't the characters using Pesterchum?" Well, for one, this is an AU, so in here Pesterchum does not exist. And, I always get confused with colorless, all-black Fanfiction Pesterlogs, so I thought that it would be a bit easier to read with their names displayed in bold. (Translation: The author was too lazy to figure out the Pesterchum chumhandles and initials for each and every character.)**

**Also, the profanity filters. Well, you see, I feel REALLY awkward trying to type out cuss words. So, I made sure that the chat logs had a profanity filter on them, which allows me to avoid actually writing the whole word.**

**Must be pretty rare to see a censored Homestuck fanfiction, huh?**

**- Long-Vuong**


	3. Eggs and Stairs

Chapter Three: Eggs and Stairs

* * *

John descended down the stairs so quickly that he nearly tripped and fell down them. Saved only by the railing, John continued, albeit at a slower pace.

Making his way through the kitchen, John managed to snag an oven mitt. Cautiously, he covered his hand with the oven mitt and opened the oven door, which released a cloud of noxious cherry-colored fumes.

His eyes watering, John could barely see the inside of the oven. As far as he could tell, the egg had somehow grown larger. Although it was now about the size of a tennis ball, it was so heavy that it was bending the wire oven rack a bit, which probably explained that weird screeching sound.

Closing the door, John tried to think of what to do next. The fact that the egg had grown didn't bother him too much; it was an _alien_ egg after all. What really unnerved him was the fact that if he left the egg in the oven for a long period of time, the oven would probably get destroyed… and that would have horrible consequences. Since his dad loved to bake, John knew that if his dad ever came home to his beloved oven destroyed, he'd have a cow. That would definitely result in him being grounded for life.

But… The egg didn't seem to be growing at a particularly fast rate. Plus, his dad wouldn't be coming home for a few hours, and in that time John could probably think of a place to put the egg before it outgrew the oven.

After a bit of thought, John decided to put a note on the oven to discourage his dad from using it. Taking a piece of paper, he wrote:

Dad,

This is a science experiment for school. Please don't touch or disturb it.

John

Taping the note down, John examined his handiwork and hoped it would be enough to deter his father. Then, hearing his computer pinging noisily again, he went upstairs and returned to his bedroom.

**Jade H.: **john? john, are you there?

**Rose L.: **Are you present, John?

—**John E.** is now active—

**John E.: **yeah, I'm here. sorry it took so long.

**John E.: **apparently, the egg grew when I put it in the oven. it's so heavy that it twisted the wire rack in there.

**Jade H.:** wow, that's a pretty interesting alien egg! who knew that eggs could grow?!

**Rose L.: **That is quite an intriguing egg indeed.

John spent the rest of the day chatting with Rose and Jade about the egg and various other things. Time flew by, and suddenly John heard his dad's car coming up the driveway.

John panicked as he realized that he hadn't thought of a place to put the egg yet. He had been completely distracted by chatting with his friends! Running over to his window, John saw his dad park the car.

He now had two choices. Plan One, which was the easiest, was to do nothing and hope that the note he had put on the oven succeeded in warding off his dad. However, if his dad was overly curious he might end up opening the oven despite what the note said. Plan Two would be a bit harder to pull off as it involved John having to go downstairs to explain to his dad why he should avoid the oven, which carried the risk of having his dad getting suspicious and opening the oven anyways.

The sound of the front door opening reminded John that he had very little time to make a decision. Biting his lip, John made it halfway across his room towards the doorway before he stopped to reconsider what he was doing. He backpedaled a few steps, half wanting to stay in his room and half wanting to confront his dad. All the while, his computer was pinging noisily as his friends tried to contact him.

In a burst of bravery John decided to confront his dad. He dashed out of his bedroom, ran down the hallway, and promptly tripped down the stairs. Due to the fact that he'd had a running start, John violently tumbled down the rogue staircase and hit the opposite wall with a loud _thud_.

Dizzily, John watched as his dad entered the kitchen. With growing dread he tried to stand up, but to no avail—he was too bruised and wobbly to do anything! The only thing he could do was wait and listen for the telltale sound of the oven door opening.

Luckily, that sound never came. John sighed in relief as he saw his dad stroll out of the kitchen… then realized that his dad was walking straight towards him. This meant that his dad wanted to ask him about the "science project", or even worse, was going to launch into a conversation about harlequins and jesters and whatnot in an attempt to foster deeper father–son relations. John did not like either of those prospects, so he tried to make a quick but dizzy getaway up the stairs back into his room.

However, it seemed that Lady Luck was done aiding him for today. Near the top of the staircase, John tripped and fell again, tumbling back down the stairs and into the wall with a sickening _crack_.

The last thing John saw before he blacked out was his father's worried face.

* * *

**Stairfall x2 combo! Yep... I didn't originally plan for him to fall down the stairs, but I ended up getting writer's block. So, I used the Stairfall x2 combo as a means of transitioning the story. And, it sort of worked out okay!**

**Updates will be very random and sporadic from now on, because I need to study for end-of-the-year exams...**

**The next chapter is going to be an intermission/transition chapter; it's not going to be from John's point of view. (Sorry BlackPanther101, I didn't realize that I would end up using more than John's POV, so expect a few POV changes later on... *sweatdrops*)**

**- Long-Vuong**


	4. Cake and Monsters

Chapter Four: Cake and Monsters

* * *

John's dad gently carried John back upstairs. After laying him in bed and turning off the incessantly pinging computer, he went back downstairs.

For some reason, there was a large plume of cherry-colored smoke billowing out from the kitchen. Assuming it was the science experiment John had put in the oven, John's dad went into the kitchen, rescued a large amount of cooking and baking supplies from being ruined by the smoke, and set off for the next-door neighbor's house.

With kitchen supplies awkwardly piled in his arms, he rang the doorbell. A lady wearing a pastel rainbow dress and a pink scarf around her blonde hair answered it and inquired why he was here.

He said that his son was using his house's oven for a project. Then, he asked if he could bake using her oven, as he wanted to bake his son a get-well cake.

The lady agreed to let him use the oven, but wanted to know why his son needed a get-well cake. He replied that his son had fallen down the stairs and hit his head terribly hard.

The lady gasped. She invited the man in and said that she would help him with baking and decorating the cake, as his poor son was badly in need of one.

The inside of the lady's house was strewn with tarps, cans of paint, paintbrushes, and other various painting supplies. Apologizing for the mess (as she had not been expecting visitors) the lady led John's dad to her kitchen.

Time flew by as the lady and John's dad worked hard to bake and decorate the cake. Though they had produced a masterpiece of baking that anybody would be proud of, by the time they had finished it was dark outside.

Gathering up the baking supplies and cleaning up the mess, John's dad said that it was probably time for him to go. The lady agreed, and wondered if she could help him carry the cake over to his house. Grateful for the offer, John's dad picked up the baking supplies while the lady carried the cake, and the two set out for his house.

At the house, John's dad noticed that the cloud of smoke from the kitchen had gotten larger. Placing his precious kitchen supplies on the couch in front of the fireplace, he then went to open a window to air the house out.

After that, he led the lady to John's room. Helping her place the cake on his dresser, he then wrote a short get-well note to John.

The lady asked if she could write a get-well note to John as well. In response, John's dad handed her the note he had been writing on and told her that she could write on the back, which she did.

Afterwards, the two went downstairs, and John's dad bade farewell and goodnight to the lady as she went back to her house. Then, he went to get ready to go to bed.

* * *

John's dad was woken in the middle of the night by an unearthly screeching sound coming from the kitchen. Wearily, he got up and went over to see what had caused the sound.

Inside the kitchen, the oven was radiating a harsh, unearthly red glow. Advancing cautiously, John's dad took a look inside the oven—then recoiled in horror and disgust. An enormous red egg, its shell pulsing with a strange light, was taking up the entire inside of the oven and was bending the metal parts beyond repair.

This had gone too far! John's dad took an oven mitt and was preparing to open the oven door when a CRACK split through the quiet night air. Ever so slowly, the eggshell tore open, revealing a deep green, ugly, muscle-bound monster. The monster reared its skeletal head and gave a deep roar, shattering the remains of the oven and most of the windows in the house.

John's dad took a fighting stance as the monster turned its grotesque head in his direction. Without even batting an eye the monster opened its maw and lunged.

* * *

**THE HORROR STORY HAS BEGUN... or something like that...**

**For those of you wondering about the alien: No, it's not Lord English. Since this is an AU, instead of a universe-destroying alien we have an Earth-destorying alien. However, the alien is meant to be a sort of representation of how Lord English's destuctive capabilities can even reach AUs as far-fetched as this one...or something like that. Failed author's explaination is failed.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	5. A Note and A Hat

Chapter Five: A Note and A Hat

* * *

John awoke with a lot of aching bruises and a pounding headache. To his surprise, he was back in his own room—his dad must've carried him up there when he had blacked out.

Bright sunlight shone through the window, illuminating a get-well cake and a note beside it on his dresser. Blinking a bit, John looked around for his glasses, which had been removed some time after he had blacked out.

After sliding out of bed and putting on his glasses (they had also been on the dresser), John decided to take a look at the note next to the cake (which he ignored). The note read:

SON,

I HOPE YOU GET BETTER SOON.

DAD

P.S. DON'T WORRY; I BAKED THE CAKE USING THE NEIGHBOR'S OVEN.

John turned the note over and found another get-well message for him, this time from the lady who lived next door.

_Dear John, _

_I heard about your tumble down the stairs. I can relate; it just keeps on happening, doesn't it? Please get better soon!_

_ Your Neighbor, Ms. Paint_

John put down the note and inspected the cake. It smelled a little stale, but was otherwise perfectly good. It was very elaborately frosted and iced; he guessed that Ms. Paint had a hand in decorating.

Wondering how long he had been out, John went over to his computer to check the time, only to find out that somebody had unplugged it. Sighing, he turned the computer on and waited for it to start up.

After a few minutes, the computer turned on fully, and John was bombarded with a plethora of missed chat attempts. He winced at the frantic pinging of the computer and turned the volume to MUTE. Checking the chat attempts, he saw that there were a lot from Jade, a couple from Rose and even one from Dave.

Then he checked the time. To his surprise, it was around noon, which meant that he'd been knocked out for more than half a day.

Idly wondering if the egg had gotten any bigger, John ambled out into the hall, carefully stepped down the stairs, and walked into the kitchen.

The sight that met him was at once horrifying and gruesome. The entire wall where the oven had stood was demolished, and bits of plaster and tile were everywhere. Deep gouges from what may have been claws or teeth marred the remaining walls and the ceiling.

And then there was the blood. It was everywhere, painting great swatches of the kitchen bright red. It was doubtful that anyone who had lost that much blood could have lived. Patches of blood did not adorn just the kitchen; monstrously large, bloody footprints showed that something enormous had made its way out of the kitchen and into the world beyond.

John turned away, feeling sick. Had the alien—the alien from the egg—hatched? Was it the one who had caused all of this destruction? It was almost certain.

Then, with a sinking feeling, John realized that he hadn't seen his dad at all. Since it was Saturday, his dad would be off from work and should be either cleaning or mowing the lawn or doing some other kind of fatherly thing. But he wasn't.

At that moment, he noticed something—there was a bit of fabric sticking out from underneath a large chunk of wall. Steeling himself, John gingerly stepped around the blood and hefted the large slab aside.

There, battered and covered with blood and dust, was his father's hat.

John picked up the hat and brushed off some of the debris that had accumulated on it. He knew that his dad would have never willingly allowed the beloved hat to get in such a condition, so the simply finding the beaten, dirty hat only confirmed the worst.

A sudden _brrinng_ from the doorbell startled John so much he nearly dropped the hat. With mixed apprehension and hope, he made his way across the kitchen and the living room.

Cautiously, he opened the door. To his surprise, all three of his friends stood there—Rose, Jade, and Dave.

John was speechless for a moment. Stuttering a bit, he said, "W-wait, why are you guys…?"

Dave gave him a withering look. "I told you to kill the egg while you could, Egbert," he said. "You didn't listen. Now look around you."

Looking around, John realized that every single house in the neighborhood except his own was razed to the ground. Destroyed. Wrecked. Decimated.

A single thought went through John's head. _What have I done?_

* * *

**After this point, the story will be serious and will have major character death near the end. **

**Anyways, for those of you who couldn't figure out who John's neighbor was... She was Ms. Paint. It even says so in the note in the story.**

**Apologies for the progressively shorter chapters... I'll try to make them longer, I promise.**

**I was mulling over whether this was a horror story or not recently, and all I can think is that it's not exactly horror- it's more like MWAHAHAHA ALIENS AND MASSIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE. But that's not a genre. So it's Horror for now.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	6. Self-Pity and a Battle

Chapter Six: Self-Pity and A Battle

* * *

As soon as everyone was inside the house and gathered around the fireplace, Rose explained that all three of them had evacuated their own homes due to the raging monster. Apparently, it had started on a rampage last night and had devastated John's neighborhood first. Then it had moved on to Rose's, Jade's, and Dave's neighborhoods, destroying everything and killing anyone in its path. The military had been sent out and a state of emergency had been called, but as of now no one knew if the monster had been killed or not.

"It was only because of Dave's assistance that we survived," stated Rose. "If he had not warned us beforehand to evacuate, then the both of us would have surely died."

At the mention of the girl's possible deaths, Dave fidgeted a bit, looking somewhat ill at ease. Immediately, Rose noticed and mentally noted it for farther analyzing; in contrast, John was still far too shocked and upset to do anything more than tightly clutching his dad's hat.

Jade scooted over to John and began to comfort him, having noticed that he was still in shock.

"It wasn't your fault that everything happened," she said to him. Patting him lightly on the back, she continued, "That meteor could have landed anywhere, and you didn't know how much trouble the alien egg would cause."

John sat silently, his eyes tearing up. "N-no," he said, "It was my fault. I was the one who was stupid enough to try to hatch the egg! What was I thinking? In every alien and horror movie like this, bad things happen when you release the alien. I was stupid to think that anything good could have come out of that meteorite. And because of me, my dad is dead and the neighbors are dead and a lot of people are dead because of me—"

SLAP! Everyone in the room froze.

After the initial shock, John realized that Dave had slapped him.

"Stop," he said, looking angry. "Just stop. I don't want to hear you blame yourself for all of this when it was never your fault in the first place. Face it Egbert: It wasn't you. It was—"

Dave bit his lip and forcibly stopped himself from finishing the sentence. Rose looked at him curiously.

"Go on, Dave, finish what you were saying," she insisted.

"Forget it. Just—no." Dave, looking more tired than angry now, covered his face with his hands.

The other kids knew for certain now that something was very wrong. The Dave they knew wouldn't act anything like this in this situation. What in the world was going on?

There was a deep pause of silence. John awkwardly rubbed his injured cheek. Jade sat quietly next to John. Rose seemed to be deep in thought about Dave's recent strange behavior. Dave himself was still sitting in the same position, with head in hands.

A low rumbling sounded in the distance, not unlike a deep roar. It went unnoticed, or at least until it sounded again—but this time, it was closer. And louder. Much louder.

Dave jerked his head up, suddenly alert. John turned his head in the direction of the strange sound, as he had heard it too.

The noise happened again. Suddenly, Dave leapt up and roughly shoved the three of them towards the front door. Everyone stumbled in surprise.

"Sh*t!" he cursed. "Everybody run, hide, get out of the way! I thought we had time but—"

"Dave, what was that for?" John was still a bit dazed from the recent turn of events.

Dave looked panicked. "Don't you get it?" he said. "The monster's already here and it's going to kill all of you. Now go, I'll fend it off for as long as I can!"

As if to make his words true, an enormous green, scaly hand tore through the side of the house, smashing the fireplace they had been standing around just moments before. Roaring, the beast shoved its skeletal face through the gash, tearing it even farther.

Everyone stared, petrified half in horror and half in fear.

Dave drew a sword seemingly from nowhere and took a fighting stance. "Go!" he repeated, pain creeping into his voice. "Get as far away from this thing while you still can!"

John and Jade hesitated, not wanting to leave their friend, but Rose knew that there was something deeper in what Dave was saying. She took John and Jade by the hands and quickly pushed them out the door.

As soon as John, Jade and Rose were out the door the monster broke through the wall in a shower of splinters and paint chips. Looking around, the alien beast realized that it had missed its targets and roared in anger, its sharp talons gouging deep tears in the floor. Easily taller than a bus, the monster was covered in scaly green skin and had deadly teeth and claws, each the length of a forearm.

Immediately, Dave rushed headfirst at the monster, slicing at it with his weapon. Infuriated, the beast took a swipe at the boy, but was far too slow and missed.

The boy and the beast traded blows for ten full minutes. The house around them became more damaged with each swipe of the monster's talons.

Quickly, with sword in hand, Dave ducked below its razor-sharp claws and used his momentum to stab the monster straight through the chest. However, this only served to aggravate the alien even more, as it bellowed in pain and ripped the implement out. No blood seeped from the wound, and the hole closed up within seconds.

Tossing the sword aside, the monster lunged at Dave, talons outstretched. Caught by surprise, Dave leapt back a second too late, and the deadly claws slashed through his left arm and torso, leaving deep red gashes.

The boy staggered, clutching his injured arm and wincing in pain. Blood was seeping through his shirt, staining it bright red. Weaponless and bleeding profusely, he was as good as dead.

As if it were mocking him, the alien gave a short call that sounded much like scraping, bending metal. With one gigantic hand it swatted Dave into the remains of the wall.

Dave gasped at the sudden shock. His head pounding and his vision starting to blur, he tried to stand up, only to be knocked to the ground by a monstrous hand.

Almost grinning, the alien raised its talons for the final blow—but then stopped suddenly, its head high in the air as if it sensed something.

Slowly lowering its claws, the monster bellowed at Dave one last time and turned to the front of the house. Sniffing the air, it paused for a moment before tearing the front door apart and barreling through as if it were a hunting dog after its prey.

Breathing heavily, the rush of adrenaline nearly gone, Dave painfully picked himself up. Blood was everywhere—all of it his.

Leaning against what was left of the wall for support, Dave managed to make his way across the room and retrieved his now-broken sword. Even breathing was an arduous task; he could feel himself on the verge of collapse.

But he had to get to his friends. He had to warn them—the monster wasn't going on a random rampage.

It was targeting them, for reasons only it knew.

Suddenly, Dave was struck by a wave of dizziness. Trying to remain upright, he stumbled and fell.

Everything went black.

* * *

**The first action scene of the story! (And hopefully not the last...) I haven't written a fight scene in so long. I'm getting rusty... if I was ever good at writing fight scenes in the first place.**

**Woooooooo fight scenes! **

**- Loung-Vuong**


	7. A Fight and a Death

Chapter 7: A Fight and a Death

* * *

John could've sworn that they had been running in a straight line. Had the disfigured buildings impaired his sense of direction?

Rose and Jade also looked confused. The three of them had barely escaped an attack by the alien monster, only to find themselves on the same exact street they had been running away from.

"Something's not right here," said Rose, stating the obvious.

Jade was clutching a stich in her side, and John himself had to stop to catch his breath. Up ahead of them was his house, looking strange and alien against the backdrop of the gray, stormy sky.

Rose surveyed the area around them but didn't see anything out of the ordinary—other than the rows upon rows of wrecked houses. Looking troubled, she said, "Let's keep moving. If we get far enough from here, we might be able to figure out what is going on."

The other two could only nod in silent agreement. Again, John, Rose and Jade set off running.

Minutes later, the three were back on the same street, next to the same house and exactly where they had started from.

"What in the world…?" Rose took John and Jade by the shoulder and led them in the opposite direction they had been running in. "Maybe if we go in the other direction…" she trailed off, unwilling to acknowledge the strange turn of events.

Again, minutes later they found themselves in exactly the same place, albeit on the other side of the street. At this point, everyone was too winded to comment.

After catching her breath, Jade said, "It doesn't look like we can get any farther than this. It's like we're stuck in some sort of loop."

"Jade's right," agreed John. "It's no good running."

Rose nodded reluctantly. "It's like some sort of circular trap. No matter how far you run, you end up back in the same position."

There was a pause. Jade, looking worried, spoke up. "What do we do now? We can't run, and if the monster finds us…" She shivered.

"We'll fight."

Rose and Jade stared in John in bewilderment. Had he gone mad?

John was tired of running. He was tired of trying to reason with himself about the terrible mistake he had made by bringing in the egg. The only option left, he reasoned, was to fight—or at least go down trying.

A grim silence fell upon everyone as John's words sunk in. There was no going back, not now.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling howl ripped through the still air. The sound of wood planks snapping under enormous pressure rang out, and the monster appeared, leaving a gaping hole in the house's wall. Straightaway, it saw the three children, and its mouth contorted into a twisted grin.

Gulping nervously, John drew his weapon of choice—a hammer. The others did likewise, retrieving their own weapons; Rose had a pair of sharp knitting needles and Jade had a plain rifle.

There was a moment of pause, and John realized that Dave hadn't appeared. That could only mean one thing, and John didn't want to think about that possibility.

Jade and Rose had realized the same thing he had. However, none had time to mull over their knowledge because the creature lunged viciously at the three combatants, snarling and growling.

Rose was the first to move. She leapt clear over the bestial alien's head and brought down both of her needles into the monster's back, causing it to growl and try to shake her off.

While Rose distracted it, Jade braced herself and took several shots at the beast, hoping that she would hit vital spots. However, the bullets had no effect on it, as they simply bounced off its scaly hide.

Seemingly annoyed, with a toss of its shoulders the monster sent Rose crashing into the debris around them. Lumbering slowly, it approached her and reached out to smash her frail body. All of a sudden, John appeared, yelling at the top of his lungs and swinging his hammer wildly. "HEY! EVIL ALIEN MONSTER!" he shouted. "OVER HERE!" With that, he threw the hammer and hit the brute square in the face.

The monstrous alien growled; it was soft and dangerous, completely unlike any of the other bellowing calls it had made earlier. The sound itself conveyed its meaning very well to John and Jade—it was angry. Very angry.

With a snarl on its face the beast turned and grabbed Rose, her form tiny and delicate in its colossal hands. Raising its hand up high, it growled once again at John and Jade—then it smashed Rose into the concrete ground.

There was a sickening snap.

John could feel bile rising in his throat. Jade's eyes started tearing up uncontrollably, and she seemed to be trying to keep herself from screaming.

The monster lifted its hand, which was dripping with blood. It eyed the two, as if to say, I have complete power over you puny weaklings. See, I have killed two of your friends! You cannot stop me!

John suddenly felt something strange. It was familiar, yet all too alien. He was angry; the only thing he could feel was seething rage. With no concern for himself, he rushed blindly at the creature, wanting only to kill it at any cost.

* * *

**What the heck am I writing...**

**- Long-Vuong**


	8. A Boy and a Beast

Chapter 8: A Boy and a Beast

* * *

The only thing that kept John alive was the mad rush of instinct, adrenaline and anger that was pumping through his veins. Somehow, someway, he was holding his own against the beast. It was a seemingly endless pattern of parrying, attacking, and dodging the fiend's lethal claws with only his hammer.

Jade watched, scared and confused, from a distance. She was trying to get a clear shot at the monster's face, but her teary eyes kept interfering with her aim, and she didn't want to risk hitting John.

However, as she watched, it was obvious that John was tiring. Every attack took a second longer; every block took him too much time, and the beast's talons got closer and closer to him each time.

She didn't think she could bear watching her last friend get hurt or killed. In a split second decision she leapt into the fray, using her rifle as both a shield and a gun.

John was a bit surprised when his friend joined him in close combat, but he didn't have time to dwell on it—the monster was incredibly strong, and it took every ounce of his strength to keep it from smashing him to a pulp.

Minutes flew by. All the while, John and Jade accumulated cuts and bruises. The monster, however, fought on without a single scratch on it.

Jade leapt and delivered a bullet to the beast's chest, causing it to roar in a ghastly manner. Unluckily, John accidentally moved too close to the alien while trying to get in an attack. Seizing its opportunity, it thrust its claws at him.

Moving quickly, Jade intercepted its talons, blocking most of them with her rifle. A sudden pain ripped through her chest, and she realized that something was terribly wrong.

Drip.

John watched in horror as a foot-long claw impaled Jade straight through the chest, turning her white shirt red with blood. With a small gasp, she dropped her weapon and went limp.

With a look that could only be described as triumph, the alien withdrew its talons, letting Jade fall lifelessly to the ground. It then turned to John, its sharp teeth and claws bared.

John tiredly lifted up his hammer. Inside him, feelings of disgust and rage mingled with tired thoughts, wondering if he should just give up. He fervently wished that all of it was a dream, which he could wake up from, and the nightmare would end, and everyone would be alive.

However, the thought of his friend's deaths brought him back in focus. He'd just watched Jade and Rose die at the hands of the monster. John decided that he would fight. Everyone he knew was dead. If he died, then he would go down fighting.

And maybe he would bring the monster down with him. John noticed that one of the houses wrecked by the alien was almost literally on its last legs—if he could just lead the monster under the house and take down what was left of its support, he might be able to kill the beast. However, the house was a long way out, and John doubted he could make it over without the alien catching him first.

He had to try. Immediately, John started to run towards the house, making sure that the monster was following his lead. Upon reaching the ruined shell of a building, he set upon swinging his hammer at its already-damaged supports.

The monster followed close behind, its pounding feet shaking the ground with each step. As fast as he could, John brought down one of the three remaining supports. With an ominous rumble, a large amount of debris was ejected from the rafters.

Now, the monster was only a few steps away. With a tremendous swing, John brought down the second-to-last weakened, wooden support with one blow. Under the sudden lack of support, the wood started to buckle and bend, sharp splinters flying off in every direction. He turned to get to the last beam, but the monster was already there, blocking his path with a snarl on its face.

This was it. John could feel tiredness creeping into his arms, but he had to finish what he had started. With the last of his strength, he dashed towards the alien beast.

The monster swiped at him and missed, barely. John raised his arms for the final blow—

A sharp pain suddenly tore through his chest. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and his vision darkened quickly. John fell to the ground and lay still.

The alien withdrew its claw and half roared, half growled in triumph. Snarling, it started to move away from the boy's lifeless body.

With a sudden crash the house collapsed in on itself, a cascade of wood and plaster hurtling down. Caught by surprise, the monster was buried in the falling debris. After the dust settled, all was silent.

Then a monstrous green hand erupted from the remains of the house. Slowly, the beast freed itself from the pile, and stalked off into the distance, ready to begin its destruction anew.

* * *

**This isn't the end, readers. One chapter left, the "epilogue". **

**- Long-Vuong**


	9. A Loop and an Alien

Chapter 9: A Loop and an Alien

* * *

_The alien withdrew its claw and half roared, half growled in triumph. Snarling, it started to move away from the boy's lifeless body. _

_With a sudden crash the house collapsed in on itself, a cascade of wood and plaster hurtling down. Caught by surprise, the monster was buried in the falling debris. After the dust settled, all was silent._

_Then a monstrous green hand erupted from the remains of the house. Slowly, the beast freed itself from the pile, and stalked off into the distance, ready to begin its __destruction anew—_

Dave awoke with a start. After an initial moment of panic, he realized that it was just a dream, just another nightmare, nothing to worry about…

For some reason, his entire body hurt terribly, and Dave wondered how in the world he could have gotten into such bad shape. Then the memories hit him.

It wasn't a nightmare. It was real. Or, it had been. Somehow, some way, he'd been forced to re-live the past few days over. And over. And over. It was the same scenario each time. John found an alien egg, the alien hatched, it killed everyone. Including him.

The first time he had lived through these days, everyone had died in front of him. He'd tried to warn his friends the second time around, but he had been ignored and called a lunatic. This time, he had tried to be more subtle, but to no avail.

What was it all for? Was the world trying to drive him insane? Today was the day the meteors fell again, and today he would go to school, and he would watch John and Jade and Rose act the same way again, and he would try to warn John, and in the end they would all die. What was it for?

Shakily, Dave reached for his sunglasses and put them on. He had to do something. If he didn't do anything, then no one had even the slightest chance of survival.

Sliding out of bed, he wearily trudged forwards. He was going to try to save his friends, and the world, again. Even if he died trying, which was very likely and would probably happen sooner or later.

What is it all for?

* * *

**The end.**

**So many unanswered/vaguely answered questions. I'm such a bad writer that I have to explain my story... **

**1. Why was the alien trying to kill the kids in the first place? Well, since this isn't the 'alpha' timeline (the canon Homestuck timeline) it is therefore a 'doomed' timeline. In doomed timelines everyone dies somehow. In this particular timeline, it's by a corrupted/mutated cherub attack on Earth.**

**2. Why is Dave stuck in some time loop, and why is he the only one that remembers anything? He has latent time player powers, which materialized, albeit in an uncontrolled manner, as a sort of failsafe just before he died. Think of it like this: When you play a videogame that doesn't save automatically, if you end up in an unfavorable/unwanted situation, you can turn off the game and return to your last save point. The game has no memory of what happened after the point you originally saved at, but you, as the player, have a memory of what you may have done wrong, so when you re-play the scenario or whatever you can make the right choice and win the battle or avoid getting killed or whatever. So, in Dave's situation, he 'erases the game data' by traveling back in time. No one else remembers the alternate timelines they were in because when Dave travels back in time, he is basically sending himself into an alternate timeline, where the events that he has experienced have either not taken place yet or will never take place.**

**Sorry for the rambling. If you have any questions about other events in the story, PM me.**

**- Long-Vuong**


End file.
